While most of us find rats to be a menace running around the
house and feeding off the store room, theres a shrine made in
honour of Goddess Karni, wher...

Did you just read rats? Yes, thats right.

While most of us find rats to be a menace running around the house and feeding off the store room, theres a shrine made in honour of Goddess Karni, where devotees not only come here to worship the deity but also the long-tailed rodents.

Legend has it that, when Karni Mata asked the death-god Yama to reincarnate the son of a grieving storyteller. When Yama refused to offer help, the Goddess promised that all male storytellers would be reincarnated as rats in her temple. And when they die as rats, they would once again be reincarnated as members of the Depavats family - Karni Matas descendants.

Today, there are close to 20,000 rats in the temples residence. Spotting a white albino rat and a rat to run over your feet is considered to be very auspicious.

Another fact to be noted is that, only rats within the temple walls are thought to be reincarnated and therefore sacred. The rats in the city are just, a menace just like any other rats in the world.